Who is Trump associate Laura Loomer?

On the day of the Sept. 10 presidential debate, a conservative activist and journalist named Laura Loomer was photographed disembarking from former President Donald Trump's airplane in Philadelphia. Her presence in Trump's entourage sparked controversy, because Loomer is a combative media personality whose statements and actions have drawn widespread condemnation.

While both Trump and Loomer put out statements that she has no official role in the campaign, other Republicans have leaned on Trump to distance himself from her. Who is Laura Loomer and how did she come to play a role in Trump's campaign?

Loomer's background

Laura Loomer, who is Jewish, was raised in Arizona by conservative parents. She frequently watched Fox News with her father at night, she once told The Spectator World in an article that called her "America's most notorious political paparazzi." After one semester at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she claims she was discriminated against because of her politics, Loomer transferred to Barry University in Miami. She first rose to prominence there when she secretly recorded a video of herself asking university officials if she could start a pro-ISIS student group. She worked for highly controversial entities including Infowars, Project Veritas and Rebel Media. Loomer has staged a series of high-profile stunts, including donning a burqa and trying to vote under the name of Hillary Clinton's adviser Huma Abedin in 2016.

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Perhaps her most controversial behavior has involved boosting various conspiracy theories and associating with white nationalist figures. In 2023, she tweeted a video that called the 9/11 terrorist attacks "an inside job." She has argued that school shootings are staged and that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas was perpetrated by a member of ISIS. She has appeared at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), founded by far-right white supremacist Nick Fuentes, an open anti-Semite who has also dined with former President Trump, as well as a 2022 conference organized by the white nationalist publication American Renaissance.

The latest

A self-described "proud Islamophobe," Loomer has run for Congress as a Republican twice, first in 2020 when she won the GOP primary in Florida's 21st District but lost the general election to Democrat Lois Frankel, and then in 2022, when she narrowly lost the Republican primary to incumbent Rep. Daniel Webster in Florida's 11th District. Today she operates a news and opinion website called Loomered, where she broadcasts video segments under the moniker Loomer Unleashed. She is single, and has said she thinks it's because she currently puts all of her energy toward getting Trump elected. Trump tried to hire her to work on his campaign last year, said The New York Times, until he was talked out of it.

The reaction

That long history of controversy-courting behavior helps explain why many Republicans are uncomfortable with the role that Loomer is playing in Trump's campaign. And she continues to say things that land her in hot water. The White House would "smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center" if Harris (who is Indian American) were to win the election in November, Loomer said on X on Sept. 8. That post drew muted criticism from Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), whose wife Usha is also Indian American. "I don't like those comments," Vance told NBC News.

Other Republicans have been more pointed in their calls for Trump to end his affiliation with Loomer. "Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans," said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on X. "This is appalling and extremely racist," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.), a close Trump ally, in an X post referencing Loomer's "curry" comments. While he distanced himself from her comments, Trump also voiced his support for Loomer. Loomer is "tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me," Trump said in a post on his social media site Truth Social.

Loomer addressed the media in a video posted to her website on September 16. "You can't control me. That's why you hate me," she said.